anime term of the day

The other day, I was watching my new DVD of Gunsmith Cats with a couple of friends. At some point I mentioned the term fan service, and one of my friends asked me what it meant. I was getting set to explain that it was the term used to describe gratuitous imagery added to anime to please its (generally male) fan base, when, as if on cue, the TV showed a sleeping Minnie May Hopkins:

That, I said, pointing, is fan service. No further explanation was necessary*.

*...although, actually, while fan service is generally thought of as gratuitious glimpses of anime females, it can also refer to any more-or-less unneccessary tidbit thrown in to please anime fans, such as character cameos or needlessly elaborate mecha.